LinkedIn losing ground to Facebook
We all know that when you’re on LinkedIn, you have to suit up and be professional. But on Facebook, you share pictures of cats and food, and you’re wearing a Snuggie. Why is it, then, that Facebook is becoming a more viable option for finding a job or for employers to find a qualified candidate?
The reasons (in order) are: money and culture. Let me explain.
Reason #1: money
Follow the money trail (or show me the money (or whatever cliché is favored today)), and you’ll see that Facebook is making more financial sense to recruiters as well as job hunters.
Recruiter Stéphane Le Viet recently told FastCo, “When you consider that employee referrals are the best (and quickest) source of high-quality hires, Facebook is the best place in the world to make that happen because you know the people in your network a lot better than on LinkedIn.”
Further, jobs can be posted for free on Facebook (where everyone is), which also saves companies money. I have the honor of founding and operating a private Facebook Group, Austin Digital Jobs, and have discovered that by creating a group with such high quality candidates and employers, there are plenty of high profile brands that post in that group for talent and nowhere else, saving them time and money.
Reason #2: culture
As alluded to previously, the culture on Facebook is such that employers researching candidates see a more accurate depiction of a person than their cleaned up LinkedIn profile could ever possibly convey.
Additionally, friends know of jobs long before employers make them public, and being connected on Facebook and talking openly about your job search can help people make connections in a helpful environment that is Facebook (LinkedIn seems to me to be more naturally competitive than helpful, given that it is the “professional” network).
But this is a two way street – candidates can research a company’s culture through their Facebook presence as well, and possibly even learn about jobs posted there before they’re published on all of the aggregate sites.
So hop to it
Worry less about how many memes you share, and more about being vocal about your needs, whether you’re job hunting, or you’re looking for a quality candidate. Both Facebook and LinkedIn are great places for connecting, but for the two aforementioned reasons, Facebook currently has the advantage in the job market.
